Medmenham Abbey (pr. ˈMĕdn'm) Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire, Gargantua, Chrysal, or, The Adventures of a Guinea
An 18th‐c. mansion on the site of a Cistercian abbey, 4 m. SW of Marlow. Here Sir Francis Dashwood founded the Hell‐Fire Club, whose members, sometimes called the Monks of Medmenham, adopted as their motto ‘Fay ce que voudras’ after that of the community at Rabelais's Abbey of Thelema in Gargantua (1534). There it was expected that a carefully selected band of virtuous people with the highest qualities would need no rules to live a virtuous life, but Charles Johnstone's description of the activities of the club in Chrysal, or, The Adventures of a Guinea (1760–5) suggests that a virtuous life was not one of the aims here.
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